News for
January 28, 2026

 

By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

The Sheriff’s department deputies will get a 14 percent pay raise beginning on February 1.

On Thursday evening, Juab County Commissioners held a work session to discuss adopting a Juab County Law Enforcement Wages and Pay Model and following that discussion, by motion, moved into an open meeting to take public comment and to adopt the wage increase.

The two meetings attracted a standing-room only crowd with approximately 75 people in attendance.

“Kristine Miller, our new administrator, spent the last week working on the pay models,” said Marty Palmer, commissioner.

He said he wanted to make it clear that he supported law enforcement and that the choices were being presented for them.

Three proposed schedules were presented and a Nephi City Police Department wage comparison sheet showing salaries for both groups.

“I have redacted the names for privacy and left only rank and pay,” said Miller.

Doug Anderson, Juab County Sheriff; Drake Underwood, Juab County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant and Homeland Security Director; Jessica Fletcher, Sheriff’s Office Administrative Assistant were also called to sit at the commission table for the discussion.

One problem with a comparison between the Nephi City Police Department and the Juab County Sheriff’s Office was that not all positions on one side existed on the other side. For example, the Sheriff’s Office handles the jail and the city does not have one.

“Nephi City doesn’t have all the positions we do,” said Underwood.

That made a line by line comparison difficult.

“First, I would like to talk about our pay scale being equal,” said Clinton Painter, commission chairman.

Miller said that the police department had a 6 year cap and the sheriff’s office had a 15 year cap.

“Are these models adding pay after the 5 percent pay raise all employees in the county received?” asked Palmer.

Miller said that was correct.

Underwood said that the deputies of the sheriff’s office were interested in knowing what the long-term pay would be. They needed to know if they could plan for the future by knowing what kind of pay they would have over the years.

“We thought we would have a committee to work on a pay model,” he said.

“We had a limited time to make a choice,” said Anderson. “We need something to help retain officers now but wanted to work on a new pay model in By Myrn a Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

The Juab School District Board of Education members were presented with certificates that came from the state because of their earning of the Master Boards Award.

“I am excited to congratulate every member of our team and our board as a whole, including Superintendent Dr. Kodey Hughes and Business Administrator Darin Clark. We have earned the prestigious Master Boards Award for the 15th year in a row and were recognized at the annual conference for the Utah School Boards Association this last weekend,” said Linda Hanks, board president.

She said that the Master Board Certification program, offered through the Utah Schools Boards Association (USBA), provides professional development for board members through online training and active participation. 

“Our board achieved this award because, individually, we completed training across all five areas of achievement, including mandatory annual training in Open Meeting Law, School Finance, and School Community Council Training before the December 1 deadline.” said Hanks.

The core areas of achievement where goals are identified are: Continuous improvement; Advocacy,  Community engagement and collaborative relationships, Accountability, and Foundation for effective governance.

“This framework has guided our team, enhancing our effectiveness and success in improving education for all children in the Juab School District,” she said.

“As a district, we have encouraged our educators to seek continuous improvement through professional development and I appreciate the board engaging in their own professional development through the master board certification program and our conferences. I believe our students deserve highly trained teachers and our school community deserve highly trained board members.” said Hanks. 

“Thank you for your engagement and congratulations,” said Hanks.

The board also receives a framed certificate to hang on the board’s meeting room wall. Each of the 15 are on display. 

“The first few years,” said Hanks, “they gave us wooden plaques but they have now gone to the certificates.’